Munyaneza: “Our elections must be a tool to build our lovely country, not a tool to destroy it”

Mr. Charles Munyaneza giving out clarification about the election process and various stakeholders’ roles

In a bid to pave the way for a smooth running of the forthcoming presidential elections, scheduled for 2010, the National Electoral Commission organized a meeting with local government officials and representatives of political organizations in Northern Province. The meeting was in Rulindo district (Nyiranagarama) on August 18, 2009.

As Rwandans are closing in on presidential elections, the National Electoral Commission has started to make a wake-up call to various key stakeholders of elections so Rwandans be well prepared and make an informed and wise choice in polling booths on Election Day.

Mr. Charles Munyaneza, the Executive Secretary of the National Electoral Commission, told the participants: “Go and tell the people that our elections must help Rwandans move forward and build the pride of their country instead of being a tool to destroy it”.

Mr. Charles Munyaneza, Executive Secretary of the National Electoral Commission, and Mr. Aimé Bosenibamwe, the Governor of Northern Province, have a common view that the forthcoming presidential elections will be quite different from those of 2003. The prediction is based on the dynamism of Rwandan society.  

Mr. Charles Munyaneza went on to mention that the number of electorate has increased which means there will be first voters in the presidential elections; most of the first voters are the youth. As the number of political formations has increased, it may make one predict that there will be more contenders compared to the 2003 elections. With the dynamism of Rwandan society, undoubtedly political consciousness has also considerably developed; however, one should not ignore that there could be some people who went backwards and others who deliberately resist to positive change.

Mr. Charles Munyaneza also urged the local government officials and representatives of political parties and organizations to keep abreast with international politics and learn from them. He also reminded them that a good season of elections in the great lakes region is starting next year, and it will start in neighboring Burundi. Mr. Munyaneza said: “Burundians and Rwandans have many things in common and the date of their elections is very close to ours”. He also referred to the Kenyan chaos in their 2007 presidential elections, and told the participants that the electoral agents at lower levels played a big role in setting the country ablaze, which on our side must be avoided.  

Mr. Munyaneza assured the participants that this time around electoral agents will be meticulously screened and well trained to avoid eventual loopholes in election management and those evidenced previous elections. Two training sessions for thousands are on schedule this month (August, 2009).

As for the budget concerns, Mr. Munyanzeza revealed that so far the National Electoral Commission feels safe; as the NEC learnt lessons in 2003 elections, this time around sorted things out so the 2010 elections run smoothly.

As political consciousness development must be parallel to welfare development, Mr. Antoine Manzi, the representative of Private Sector Federation (PSF) in the meeting told the participants about entrepreneurship while Mr. Manzi Bakuramutsa, deputy CEO of RDB, unveiled different ICT development projects intended to upgrade Rwandans’ welfare.